[09/03/08 - 10:18 AM]NBC Takes the Post-Olympics Gold, Winning the Week of AuG. 25-31 in 18-49, Total Viewers and Other MeasuresNBC spins the numbers for the week of August 25-31.

[via press release from NBC]

NBC TAKES THE POST-OLYMPICS GOLD, WINNING THE WEEK OF AUG. 25-31 IN 18-49, TOTAL VIEWERS AND OTHER MEASURES

NBC TAKES THE POST-OLYMPICS GOLD, WINNING THE WEEK OF AUG. 25-31 IN 18-49, TOTAL VIEWERS AND OTHER MEASURES

NBC HAS FOUR OF THE TOP FIVE SHOWS OF THE WEEK IN ADULTS 18-49, PACED BY THE #1 SHOW, 'AMERICA'S GOT TALENT'

NBC NABS THE FIRST POST-OLYMPICS MONDAY, PACED BY 'DEAL OR NO DEAL,' WHICH HIT A SIX-MONTH NON-OLYMPIC HIGH IN ITS TIME PERIOD, AND THE DEBUT OF 'AMERICA'S TOUGHEST JOBS,' WHICH RETAINED 96 PERCENT OF ITS 'DEAL' LEAD-IN TO WIN ITS SLOT IN 18-49

ON TUESDAY, 'AMERICA'S GOT TALENT' RETURNS FROM ITS OLYMPICS BREAK AS THE #1 SHOW OF THE NIGHT IN 18-49 AND TOTAL VIEWERS, DELIVERING NBC'S HIGHEST NON-OLYMPIC RESULTS IN THE SLOT SINCE APRIL 15

THE FIRST 'AMERICA'S GOT TALENT' WEDNESDAY ORIGINAL OF THE SUMMER IS THE #1 SHOW OF THE NIGHT IN 18-49 AND TOTAL VIEWERS, WINNING ITS SLOT BY 56 PERCENT IN 18-49 AND 64 PERCENT IN TOTAL VIEWERS

BURBANK, Calif. � September 3, 2008 � NBC took the gold in its first post-Olympics week, ranking #1 in adults 18-49, adults 25-54, total viewers and other key measures for the week of August 25-31 with an average 1.7 rating, 5 share in adults 18-49 and 5.9 million viewers overall, according to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research.

NBC dominated the top tier of the weekly program rankings, led by the #1 show of the week, the Tuesday edition of "America's Got Talent," which returned from its Olympics hiatus to reclaim the top spot in the weekly rankings in adults 18-49, adults 25-54, total viewers and other key measures. The last three Tuesday telecasts of "America's Got Talent" have ranked #1 for their respective weeks in 18-49, excluding sports, and all nine Tuesday editions have been #1 for their weeks in total viewers, excluding sports.

In total viewers, NBC had the top three shows of the week: Tuesday's "America's Got Talent" (#1), "Deal or No Deal" (#2) and Wednesday's "America's Got Talent"(#3). Also ranking among the top 10 programs in total viewers was the debut of "America's Toughest Jobs," which ranked #7 among all primetime programs.

Through 49 weeks of the 2007-08 season, Fox leads in primetime's key demographic of adults 18-49 while NBC is #2. Season-to-date averages in adults 18-49 for the period September 24, 2007 through August 31, 2008 are Fox (3.6/10), NBC (2.9/8), ABC and CBS (2.6/7), Univision (1.5/4), CW (0.9/3) and Telemundo (0.4/1). NBC is up 7 percent versus its rating of one year ago while ABC is down 13 percent, CBS is down 19 percent and Fox is up 3 percent.

NBC highlights for the week of August 25-31:

* NBC won four nights of the week in primetime's key demographic of adults 18-49: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday.

* On Monday, NBC won the first primetime evening following the 17 nights of the Beijing Summer Olympics. NBC ranked #1 on Monday in adults 18-49, adults 25-54, total viewers and other key measures.

* "Deal or No Deal" returned on Monday to deliver NBC's highest non-Olympic results in the time period in six months, and the debut of "America's Toughest Jobs" retained 96 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from "Deal" to rank #1 in its hour in adults 18-49, posting NBC's highest non-Olympic demo rating in the slot since April 28.

* On Tuesday, "America's Got Talent" returned from its Olympics break to deliver NBC's highest non-Olympic 18-49 and total-viewer results in the time period since April 15. "Talent" was the #1 show on any network Tuesday night in adults 18-49, total viewers and other key measures.

* With its first 8 p.m. start of the summer, "Talent" took on ABC's "Wipeout" for the first time in head-to-head competition and "Talent" won the contest convincingly. "Talent" topped "Wipeout" by 22 percent in the hour in 18-49 rating and by 61 percent in total viewers. The "Talent" margins over ABC's original unscripted competition of "Wipeout" and "Wanna Bet" for the full 8-10 p.m. time period was 63 percent in adults 18-49 and 115 percent or 5.9 million persons in total viewers.

* NBC won Tuesday night in adults 18-49 and total viewers, marking NBC's fourth consecutive Tuesday win in adults 18-49 and the network's second consecutive primetime nightly win following the conclusion of the Beijing Olympics.

* In its first regular Wednesday telecast of the summer, "America's Got Talent" emerged as the #1 show of the night in adults 18-49, total viewers and other key measures, winning its two-hour time period by margins of 56 percent in adults 18-49 and 64 percent in total viewers.

* NBC's Wednesday win marked 20 consecutive nightly wins in both adults 18-49 and total viewers (August 8 through August 27). In total viewers, this ties the longest consecutive winning streak in People Meter history (also NBC, July-August 1996). In adults 18-49, this is the second-longest winning streak in People Meter history, behind only a 21-night streak by NBC in February 2002.

* NBC won its fifth consecutive Sunday night in primetime's key demo of adults 18-49, paced by an encore telecast of the feature film "National Treasure."

Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of "live plus seven day" data except for the two most recent weeks, which are "live plus same day."

Additional NBC highlights for the week of August 25-31

On Monday, August 25 at 8 p.m. ET, "Deal or No Deal" (2.8 rating, 9 share in adults 18-49, 11.0 million viewers overall) opened the case to reveal NBC's highest non-Olympic results in this time period in both adults 18-49 and total viewers in six months (since February 25). "Deal" was up 65 percent in 18-49 versus NBC's summer average last year in this time period (2.8 vs. 1.7) and improved by 47 percent on NBC's pre-Olympics average this summer in the slot (2.8 vs. 1.9).

"Deal or No Deal" won its time period in all key ratings measures � adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, as well as in total viewers. From its first half-hour to its second, "Deal" increased by 33 percent in 18-49 rating (to 3.2/9 from 2.4/8) and by 29 percent, or 2.8 million persons in total viewers (to 12.4 million from 9.6 million).

Monday from 9-10 p.m. ET, the debut of "America's Toughest Jobs" (2.7/7 in 18-49, 7.3 million viewers overall) netted NBC's highest non-Olympic 18-49 rating in this time period since April 28 and biggest non-Olympic overall audience since May 5.

"America's Toughest Jobs" retained 96 percent of its 18-49 lead-in from "Deal" to win the 9-10 p.m. hour in adults and men 18-49 and adults, men and women 18-34. "Jobs" was up 50 percent in 18-49 rating versus NBC's average in this slot last summer (2.7 vs. 1.8) and gained 59 percent in 18-49 rating versus NBC's pre-Olympics summer average this year in the time period (2.7 vs. 1.7).

Monday from 10-11 p.m. ET, NBC News' coverage of the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Denver averaged a 1.4/4 in 18-49, a 1.6/4 in adults 25-54 and 4.7 million viewers overall, ranking #1 among the broadcast networks by all three measures.

On Tuesday, August 26 from 8-10 p.m. ET, "America's Got Talent" (3.1/9 in 18-49, 11.1 million viewers overall) returned from its Olympics break to deliver NBC's highest non-Olympic 18-49 and total-viewer results in this time period since April 15 ("Biggest Loser" season finale).

"America's Got Talent" was the #1 show of the night on any network in adults 18-49, total viewers and most other key measures.

Starting at 8 p.m. ET for the first time this summer, "America's Got Talent" leaped 47 percent above NBC's non-Olympic summer average in the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour (2.8 vs. 1.9), and then at 9 p.m. topped its own summer average in the Tuesday 9 p.m. hour by 6 percent (3.4 vs. 3.2) despite two weeks of pre-emption for NBC's coverage of the Beijing Olympics.

In that 8 p.m. hour, "Talent" went head-to-head for the first time with ABC's "Wipeout" and "Talent" won the contest convincingly in both adults 18-49 (2.8 for "Talent" from 8-9 p.m. vs. 2.3 for "Wipeout") and in total viewers (10.2 million vs. 6.3 million in the hour). The "Talent" margins over ABC's original unscripted competition of "Wipeout" and "Wanna Bet" in the full 8-10 p.m. time period was 63 percent in adults 18-49 (NBC's 3.1 vs. ABC's 1.9) and 115 percent in total viewers (11.1 million for NBC vs. 5.2 million for ABC).

Tuesday from 10-11:10 p.m. ET, NBC News' coverage of night two of the Democratic National Convention in Denver averaged a 1.7/5 in 18-49, a 2.0/5 in adults 25-54 and 6.0 million viewers overall, ranking #1 among the broadcast networks by all three measures

NBC won Tuesday night in adults 18-49 and total viewers. This marked NBC's fourth consecutive Tuesday win in adults 18-49 and the network's second consecutive primetime win since the conclusion of the Beijing Olympics on Sunday.

On Wednesday, August 27 from 8-10 p.m. ET, the "America's Got Talent" results show (2.8/8 in 18-49, 10.3 million viewers overall) delivered NBC's top non-Olympics results in this time period since January 23 in both adults 18-49 and total viewers.

In its first regular Wednesday telecast of the summer, "America's Got Talent" emerged as the #1 show of the night on any network in adults 18-49, 18-34, 25-54, total viewers and other key measures. "Talent" dominated the 8-10 p.m. time period, with winning margins of 56 percent in adults 18-49 (2.8 vs. 1.8 for CBS and Fox) and 64 percent in total viewers (10.3 million vs. 6.3 million for CBS).

"Talent" paced NBC to a Wednesday night win in adults 18-49 and total viewers. This marked NBC's third consecutive primetime win since the conclusion of the Beijing Olympics.

Wednesday from 10-11:03 p.m. ET, NBC News' coverage of night three of the Democratic National Convention in Denver averaged a 1.5/4 in 18-49, a 2.0/5 in adults 25-54 and 5.5 million viewers overall, ranking #1 among the broadcast networks by all three measures

On Thursday, August 28, NBC Sports' coverage of the NFL pre-season football match-up between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Washington Redskins averaged a 0.8/3 in adults 18-49 and 2.8 million viewers overall from 7-9:53 p.m. ET.

Thursday from 9:53-11:02 p.m. ET, NBC News' coverage of night four of the Democratic National Convention in Denver averaged a 2.2/6 in 18-49, a 2.5/6 in adults 25-54 and 6.1 million viewers overall, ranking #1 among the broadcast networks in adults 18-49 and 25-54

On Friday, August 29 from 8-9 p.m. ET, an encore telecast of Monday's "America's Toughest Jobs" averaged a 0.9/3 in 18-49 and 2.9 million viewers overall.

Friday from 9-11 p.m. ET, "Dateline NBC" averaged a 1.3/4 in 18-49 and 4.4 million viewers overall. For its second hour, from 10-11 p.m., "Dateline" ranked #1 in adults 18-49, adults 25-54, total viewers and other key measures.

On Saturday, August 30 from 8-9 p.m. ET, an encore telecast of "Chuck" averaged a 0.6/2 in 18-49 and 2.5 million viewers overall. At 9 p.m., a rebroadcast of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" delivered a 0.7/2 in 18-49 and 2.6 million viewers overall. At 10 p.m., a second encore "Law & Order; Criminal Intent" (1.0/3 in 18-49, 4.2 million viewers overall) built on its lead-in from the previous hour by 43 percent in 18-49 and by 64 percent or 1.6 million persons in total viewers.

On Sunday, August 31 from 7-8 p.m. ET, "Dateline NBC" averaged a 0.9/4 in 18-49 and 3.6 million viewers overall.

Sunday from 8-11 p.m. ET, an encore telecast of the 2004 feature film "National Treasure" (1.7/5 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall) won the time period in adults 18-49 and other key measures. For its final hour from 10-11 p.m., "National Treasure" ranked #1 in all key demographics. From its first half-hour to its last, "Treasure" grew by 82 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 2.0/6 from a 1.1/4) and by 50 percent, or 2.0 million persons in total viewers (to 6.0 million from 4.0 million).